Definition of Disability Accommodations
Objective
Present a brief, accessible definition of what accommodations are in relation to disability and students with disability
Reading time: approximately 2.5 minutes, not including videos.
The Ontario Human Rights Code (the Code) is a provincial law that asserts that persons with disabilities in Ontario have the right to be free from discrimination in higher education. This includes the right to access equal opportunities and meet learning requirements available to all students, including in mandatory and optional clinical placements.
The Code states that universities and colleges have a duty to accommodate students with disabilities. This duty to accommodate means that the university and its employees have to listen to students’ requests for accommodation and work cooperatively with them to find a solution that meets their needs.
- It is the student’s responsibility to make their accommodation needs known to their supervisor/academic director as soon as possible.
- The student does not need to share their diagnosis, but their supervisor/academic director is permitted to know about the student’s disability-related needs in order to accommodate them.
- Personal information is to be kept confidential under the law.
- The university is required to pay for the accommodations.
Accommodations give persons with disabilities an equal opportunity to apply and interview for clinical placement and to perform the essential requirements of the placement in a meaningful, inclusive and barrier free-way.
Additional Resources
Key topics covered in the video:
- Where does the Duty to Accommodate Come From? (Timestamp 2:27)
- Who Must Accommodate People with Disabilities? Who Has the Duty to Accommodate? (Timestamp 5:12)
- What is the Purpose of the Duty to Accommodate? (Timestamp 8:25)
- What are the Benefits of Fulfilling the Duty to Accommodate? (Timestamp 11:15)
- What Disabilities are Included within the Duty to Accommodate? (Timestamp 15:40)
- Examples of Accommodations that Can be Required (Timestamp 17:26)
- What is the Content of the Duty to Accommodate? What Must an Organization Do? (Timestamp 26:05)
- Some Red Herrings We Can Eliminate from Discussion About the Duty to Accommodate (Timestamp 34:05)
- When Does the Duty to Accommodate Arise? (Timestamp 35:25)
- When, If Ever, Can You Ask a Person, Requesting Accommodation, for Medical Documentation of Their Disability? (Timestamp 37:50)
- The Undue Hardship Defence – General Principles (Timestamp 39:33)
- When Can the Cost of Accommodation Justify a Failure to Accommodate? (Timestamp 49:14)
- When Can Health and Safety Considerations Justify a Refusal to Accommodate? (Timestamp 57:42)
- Can the Failure to Accommodate Be Defended on the Basis that It Adversely Affects the Morale of Other Workers? (Timestamp 59:10)
- How Does the Duty to Accommodate Apply to Trade Unions and Collective Agreements? (Timestamp 1:00:49)
- What Happens if Fulfillment of the Duty to Accommodate May Conflict with Other Rights of Other People? (Timestamp 1:03:48)
- A Short, Punchy List of Defences or Arguments that Cannot Justify a Failure to Accommodate (Timestamp 1:06:56)
- Concluding Thoughts (Timestamp 1:11:18)
